“Offering a superior mobile experience is an absolute necessity if you’re looking to draw desktop players into the mobile space,” Strohl told us. “I would suggest that affiliates try out an operator’s mobile games on their own devices before offering those games to their players.”

“If you’re not happy with the experience, it’s doubtful that your players will be either,” he added.

Given the fact that mobile players have little patience for operators who serve up slow load times and laggy play, Strohl’s advice is right on the money.

“We’ve spent a lot of time testing products like the Silver Oak Mobile Casino to make sure they offer a stellar experience every time a player logs on to play,” Strohl says, “and that’s an absolutely critical aspect of succeeding in the mobile space.”

Make it Worth Their While

Gamblers of all kinds are creatures of habit who aren’t always thrilled by the prospect of moving their play to new places. For that reason, desktop players sometimes need a little nudge to get them to try out, and keep trying out, your mobile offerings.

The good news here is that the nudge it takes to push them over to the mobile doesn’t have to be a big one.

“Enticing players into the mobile space can be as simple as offering up a few free spins or a small deposit bonus,” Strohl says.

If your affiliate partners aren’t offering the kinds of mobile incentives your players want, you need to take the ball and run with it yourself. Talk to your affiliate manager and find out if he or she can arrange a special promotion for your players.

“Most affiliate managers are happy to work with partners who are stepping up their promotional game,” Strohl said.

Make Certain You’ve Got Mobile Support

Most operators offer marketing support to their affiliate partners but not all of them offer much in the way of mobile marketing materials. This can be a major problem if you’re trying to convert and retain mobile players.

“We offer a full set of mobile-specific marketing materials that help reinforce our mobile products to both desktop and existing mobile players,” Strohl says, “If we’re not supporting the transition from desktop to mobile, who will?”

Go Where the Mobile Players Go

One unexpected side effect of the worldwide move to mobile devices has been the resurgence of e-mail and e-mail marketing.

According to Movable Ink’s US Consumer Device Preference Report, a whopping 65% of all e-mail is opened on mobile devices. That means that well-crafted e-mail offers can draw an incredible amount of attention from mobile players.

“I always tell affiliates that e-mail marketing is a critical piece of the mobile puzzle,” Strohl says, “The key here is to make certain your CTAs are optimized for mobile players and that you’ve thoroughly tested every link in every e-mail – nothing loses players faster than dead links.”

Finally

Guiding desktop players to the mobile space is all about doing what hopefully you’ve been doing all along; offering them hassle-free, value-packed play. It’s as simple as that.